Ohio isn't the end-all be-all

Okay, the people on NBC are idiots. They've got Bush currently at 246 electoral votes. The moron they have playing with numbers on his etch-a-sketch says that the race is completely over if Bush wins Ohio. This would give him 266 votes, meaning he could still win Alaska (3 votes) and only have 269 votes, one short of the total needed to become president-elect.

This would leave the way open for Kerry to win the rest of the states, which is completely doable because he's winning in all of the rest of the states except for New Mexico, in which he's behind by a very small margin.

Kerry currently has 207 votes.

MI = 17
MN = 10
WI = 10
IA = 7
NV = 5
NM = 5
NH = 4
HI = 4

There are 62 electoral votes in the remaining non-Ohio states.

207+62 = 269


What the fuck? Is it really conceivable that Bush and Kerry could tie, or are there missing electoral votes somewhere?

Looks like it is the end-all be-all. Bush has won Ohio and Alaska, and I doubt New Mexico is suddenly going to be overturned with votes for Kerry, so I think it's safe to say that Bush has won this election.

FOX News was the one that called Ohio. Just like they were the ones who first overturned the rest of the networks' projection of Gore winning Florida in 2000.

NBC has also called Ohio for Bush. So, what does that mean?

FOX News called it first, thus influencing other networks, is what it means.

I still don't think he can win Ohio or New Mexico, but the night is still young. I'll boil my shoe for the glue if I'm wrong.

I wonder if the media is gonna pull a Dewey again.

Provisional balloting could save Kerry.

Kid Airbag said:

Okay, the people on NBC are idiots. They've got Bush currently at 246 electoral votes. The moron they have playing with numbers on his etch-a-sketch says that the race is completely over if Bush wins Ohio. This would give him 266 votes, meaning he could still win Alaska (3 votes) and only have 269 votes, one short of the total needed to become president-elect ... What the fuck? Is it really conceivable that Bush and Kerry could tie, or are there missing electoral votes somewhere?

Apparently, in the event of a tie, it is decided by the House (one vote per state), meaning an more or less automatic victory for Bush. So Ohio would seal victory for Bush (with all the normal caveats about none of the other states having been wrongly called, but they're clearly being extremely cautious about that this time around).

An American pollster commentating on British TV raised the possibility of a tie several hours ago. However, he was looking at the possibility of Kerry winning Ohio, and Bush gaining some of the other states that are leaning his way to balance that out.

Kid Airbag said:

FOX News was the one that called Ohio. Just like they were the ones who first overturned the rest of the networks' projection of Gore winning Florida in 2000.

They were last to call Florida this year for what it's worth

Oh and it figures the rest of the stations would follow the best news station doesnt it

Ralphis said:

... it figures the rest of the stations would follow the best news station doesnt it

Actually, what would really figure is if they counted the votes before announcing a result. :p

Ralphis said:

They were last to call Florida this year for what it's worth

Oh and it figures the rest of the stations would follow the best news station doesnt it

Fox is the best in my opinion

Douche_Bag said:
Fox is the best in my opinion

Which pretty much sums up how shitty the US media really is.

The point is that if electoral votes are tied, the vote goes to the House of Representatives, where each state gets one vote. There are more Reps in the House than Dems, so...

At this point CNN isn't giving Ohio to either one, saying it's too close to call. From what I read, they have a law there that says absentee and provisional ballots can't be counted until 11 days after the election. (source)

So who knows...

I'm guessing atleast one to two weeks of lawyer whoring, then a Bush victory. Then Kerry will appeal...Meh

...Lawyers...No wonder Kerry chose Edwards as his running mate!

Numbermind said:

The point is that if electoral votes are tied, the vote goes to the House of Representatives, where each state gets one vote. There are more Reps in the House than Dems, so...

But the Senate decides the VP, so you could get Bush as Pres and Edwards as VP :P

But with Nevada now called for Bush, a tie doesn't look feasible any more.

For those of you who want to keep up with the elections but are sick of the American media, this is the site for you.

EDIT: Allied Press just predicted that Kerry is going to win Wisconsin and Bush New Mexico. If true, that screws up Cyb's prediction map ;).

heh, I've been using the BBC page (along with CNN's) the entire time. I like its tracker though it gets incredibly annoying when 10+ states have updated stats at once since it makes them flash until you click on them.

Kerry has conceded.